Since 2006 the microblogging site Twitter has developed a large worldwide following. With the ability to post 140 character messages known as Tweets on one's Twitter profile page by means of an SMS message, the Twitter webpage or a smartphone, many users have registered for a Twitter account.

Just as there are many reason to join Twitter, there are also many reasons for some people to want to deactivate or delete their Twitter accounts. This may be due to personal reasons, business, or a simple lack of interest in the service. Deactivating your Twitter account, which is the official terminology used by Twitter for deleting your account, is a relatively simple process.

So if you are one of those people that has decided that Twitter is not for you, or that may simply want to eliminate your current profile and become reborn under a new Twitter persona, this guide will show you how to delete a Twitter account.

Before proceeding to actually deleting your Twitter account, you should take into consideration that once it is deleted, it is permanent. If you intend on using the username or the email address that was associated with your Twitter profile, make certain to change them prior to deactivating your account, otherwise you may not be able to use them again in a future Twitter profile.

Also, if you do decide to deactivate/delete your Twitter profile, bear in mind that your profile may still be displayed on Twitter for up to 30 days.

• In order to delete or modify your Twitter account, you'll first have to log in to your Twitter account.

1. Go the official Twitter website, and click "Sign in" in the upper-right corner of the site
2. Enter your user name or email address in the specified field
3. Enter your Twitter password in the specified field
4. Press the Enter key on your keyboard or click the "Sign In" button

• Before you delete your account, ensure that you want to do so. Once you have deleted it, you cannot reinstate your Twitter account.

• To delete your Twitter profile:

1. Click on the "Settings" option located near the top right hand corner of the page
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page
3. In the bottom left hand corner, you should see the phrase: "Delete my account." Click on this link.
4. Read through the information provided on the next page and then, if you still want to delete your account, click on the button near the center of the page that says: "OKAY, FINE, DELETE MY ACCOUNT"